Yeat's Utopia

The Lake Isle of Innisfree- William Buttler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day,
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Yeats provides beautiful images of peace and serenity in this poem. Reading it, you cannot escape this overall sense of calm and wish that you yourself could visit a place as beautiful as this. By his use of personal pronouns, Yeats takes the reader to his innermost thoughts and dreams, almost to a point were I felt like I was intruding into a personal diary and stealing its secrets. Yeats juxtaposes so realistically escape vs. reality by informing the reader of his real surroundings on the roadway, and pavements grey. He seems to be influenced by the Romantics in that he rejects the urban in this poem and embraces nature by idealizing it and making it a pure, safe place, one that is to be aspired to. The overall tone is gentility and tranquil that seems to use Innisfree as a metaphor for Yeats’ own personal utopia. The repetition of the word ‘go’ really creates a sense of escape and movement to a place of harmony and balance of nature. Yeats also puts all of the readers senses to work while reading this poem. Not only can the reader visualize this cabin by the lake, but you can also hear the honeybee in the "bee-loud glade" and the veils "where the cricket sings". Yeats also masters alliteration in this poem. The phrase "lake water lapping with low sounds" really captures the sound of the water itself. Finally, what makes this poem so wonderful, is this natural haven in contrast to Yeats’ urban reality. It creates a stark contrast to the greyness of the pavement, and a realization that Innisfree is merely in Yeats’ "deep heat’s core".